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Romania Events

Drawing on recent scholarship and addressing recent controversies, John Lampe, traces the saga of Southeastern Europe from the explosive mixture of Balkan states and imperial borderlands before the First World War, through the trials that their successors faced during two world wars, the Cold War, and finally the wars of Yugoslavia's dissolution.

The Roma have been persecuted ever since their arrival from the Indian subcontinent to Europe in the 14th Century and pervasive discrimination continues towards the Roma today. Why does a people so resilient still have to endure widespread exclusion, racism and discrimination? Experts from the fields of sociology, law, politics, and history will discuss the future of the Roma, including the prospect for Roma integration in Europe and the remaining challenges for granting the Roma population full human rights. They will also address the issue of Roma rights at the local, national, EU, and international levels.

Mircea Geoana is a Senator, Chairman of the Joint Committee of the Romanian Senate and Chamber of Deputies regarding Romania’s Accession to the Schengen Area, and a prominent political figure in Romania.

"Embracing Democracy in the Western Balkans" explores the complex and challenging facets of state-building and nation-building in weak states with little democratic experience and daunting socio-economic problems.

Gail Kligman, professor of sociology at UCLA and director of UCLA's Center for European and Eurasian Studies will discuss her latest book entitled Peasants Under Siege which explores the collectivization campaign in Romania (1949-1962) and its far-reaching effects.

The conference will provide an overview of the main issues raised by the temptation of the extremes in the 20th century and their weight upon the contemporary world. This conference will be held off-site at the Embassy of Romania.

Romania officially condemned its involvement in the European Holocaust following the Elie Wiesel Commission Report of 2004. A first-person account of being Jewish in Bucharest under fascist dictatorship is given by playwright and novelist, Mihail Sebastian, in his diary. Adapted for the stage by David Auburn in 2004, Sebastian comes to life in this one-man show based on his journal. The panel discussion following the performance will be an opportunity for the panelists and audience to discuss anti-Semitism, memory, theatre, repression, creativity and Holocaust remembrance and education in Romania today. This event brings together partners from the Woodrow Wilson Center, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Romanian Embassy to the United States.